Dynamic similarity in solar chimney modeling

Dimensionless variables are proposed to guide the experimental study of flow in a small-scale solar chimney: a solar power plant for generating electricity. Water and air are the two working fluids chosen for the modeling study. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methodology is employed to obtain results that are used to prove the similarity of the proposed dimensionless variables. The study shows that air is more suitable than water to be the working fluid in a small-scale solar chimney model. Analyses of the results from CFD show that the models are dynamically similar to the prototype as suggested by the proposed dimensionless variables. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.